Testimony begins in Norristown double murder trial

COURTHOUSE — Testimony began Tuesday in the double-murder trial of Luckenson Desrivieres, who is accused of killing Shamara Hill and Marc Winchell Estiverne last June on the 1200 block of Arch Street in Norristown.

Among those that testified was Dr. Isidore Mihalakis, who performed autopsies of both of the victims and determined that both Hill and Estiverne died of “multiple stab wounds” to the face, head, and upper torso area, as well as to the extremities in what he described as “defensive” wounds.

According to Mihalakis, who works as a forensic pathologist and has worked for the county “off and on” since the late 1970s, Estiverne suffered approximately 25 stab wounds to the front and back of his neck and received a “multitude of stab wounds to the lung.” Mihalakis also testified that Estiverne suffered minor blunt-force trauma to the head during the attack and several other wounds that, in his opinion, came from a “fighting situation.”

Mihalakis said he concluded that the stabbings were done with a single-edged, non-serrated knife and that Hill also suffered multiple stab wounds, including three to the face, one of which fractured her cheekbone and one to the area near the left ear, and a total of 10 lung injuries, along with defensive wounds and minor blunt trauma similar to the wounds suffered by Estiverne.

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Desrivieres, 25, formerly of the 1200 block of Arch Street, faces a variety of charges ranging from first-degree murder to possessing an instrument of crime relating to the deaths of the Hill and Estiverne, who lived in the same building as Desrivieres.

According to investigators, the murders occurred around 11 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, 2012, and the bodies were discovered by the landlord of the property several days later on Sunday, June 17.

Desrivieres, who is originally from Haiti, was arrested on July after police found him hiding under a cardboard box in a basement in New Jersey.

Testimony is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and the trial is expected at least through the end of the week.